The Infernal Games Read online

“You have seen a lot of magic then?” Oxivius questioned while raising that damn eyebrow of his. Still his blue eyes pierced her, seeing her on a deeper, more intimate level.

  “Well, no,” Xlina stammered. “Enough to know black magic when I see it though.”

  “Witches,” Oxivius shrugged. “Probably of the earthy pagan kind. Their magic reeks of love and pine needles. That’s what you know.”

  “Not just,” Xlina short back refusing to let her guard down. “I come from a family of druids, I’ll have you know.”

  “Ahhh, druids,” Oxivius chuckled. “One would think you’d have the reddish hair of your Celtic ancestry rather than those brown locks. And no freckles? Tsk-tsk.”

  “Yes, druids,” she barked back, not backing down for a moment. “Keepers of the Mist, Callers of the Light, and all around magical wardens. Druids.”

  “Druids,” Oxivius shrugged. “The sausage fest that never ends. They think only males can handle their magic. They act like they have a pinecone wedged between their buttocks, all snooty and arrogant. You learned what from them? To be a normal girl, right? Because after two thousand years, they still can’t invite girls to their exclusive club.”

  “I know enough to know the stench of evil,” Xlina spat back.

  “Evil, is it?” Oxivius quipped. “Then tell me, if everything that lives will die, and everything that ever had lived is dead, why aren’t all living things considered evil? At some point everyone feels the call of death. So it fuels my magic. Death is part of the cycle. It’s like calling dessert evil because it signifies the ending of dinner.”

  “Okay,” She replied, sensing that the circular logic Oxivius was using could go on forever and still full on believing he was manipulating her, or at least trying to. “If you’re human as you claim, then explain the verbal cues, the fashion sense like you fell out of a horror movie set in the Victorian era, and well... you.”

  “Explain me?” Oxivius laughed in response. “You do make tall orders, love.”

  “Stop calling me love,” she barked.

  “Sure thing, love,” he replied with a half-bow, sweeping his cane out wide and grinning like the Cheshire cat.

  “I mean it,” Xlina scolded, a flicker of blue nightmare energy building in her clenched fists at her sides.

  “Put those away, Xlina,” he said with a stern but gentle tone. “I came out here to protect you tonight. Remember that.”

  “Then talk, dead man,” Xlina ordered. “Enough cat and mouse.”

  “Death eater,” he said calmly, although somewhere in those eyes there was a pang, as if a familiar rejection tugged at his heart. Xlina almost missed the wince in her anger, but it was there. It reminded her of every time her father had said she couldn’t be a druid. It was like a pain in the heart that was too deep, too personal to share.

  “What is that?” Xlina asked, shaking her hands loosely and letting the nightmare energy dissipate.

  “Lamia,” Oxivius replied. “From Greek mythology. Often confused in the modern age for a bloodline of vampires. Lamia was a human woman who dwelled in the Otherworld, occasionally crossing the Mist to eat people. Cannibalism, if you will. Her descendants are death eaters. I can consume flesh.”

  “That’s disgusting,” Xlina said, blood draining from her face.

  “It’s not an easy trait to conceal in the human world, so I spent most of my life in the Otherworld,” he continued without batting an eye at her remarks. “Similar to your inheritance of the Baku or dream eater, flesh does more than simply nourish me. I can feel the creature’s essence. I can sometimes absorb memories, traits, or even abilities from the things I eat.”

  “You’re not helping,” Xlina said, shaking her head.

  “You’re not so different,” he continued, moving closer until he was a mere arm’s length away. “Dream eater, or do you prefer Baku? You feed on the dreams of others. Harness their mental energy like a sponge, but more than that. The dreams you eat nourish you, am I right? They heal your wounds, strengthen your body, and quicken your reflexes.”

  “I only take nightmares,” Xlina said defensively “Not flesh.”

  “They are not yours to take,” Oxivius shot back. “You steal the thoughts and ideas from the collected unconsciousness of those around you. Never asking permission, you simply feed on their fear and terror. Worse yet, your guilt for doing so drives you out here to the Mist on your damn suicidal quest to atone for your actions.”

  He could have punched her in the chest. It would have stung less than the bite of his words. Here she stood, taking a beating on morality from a damn cannibal necromancer, and damn him to the Nine Hells, he was right. He may not have used his black magic to tear at her heart, but his words did so none the less.

  “Come now, love,” he continued, his voice returning to a tender tone and his free hand outstretched for hers. “We have lingered far too long. Any longer and the Otherworlders will sense us here in the Mist, and I’m not quite ready to fight anything else tonight.”

  She reached forward and took his hand, unable to stop herself from thinking this is how people are tricked into making deals with demons. He hadn’t lied to her; he spoke with sincerity, calling her on her flaws and insecurities while poking holes in her beliefs and rationale until her mental resistance resembled Swiss cheese. She should run. She should leave him behind and return to her apartment. She should tell Valeria to go straight to the Nine Hells and sit on a smoldering brimstone for all eternity. But he wasn’t wrong. So she took his hand and let him lead her from the parking lot and the corpse of the cephalopod. The Mist rescinded as they made their way back up the side street and casually navigated the streets of Portland until Pandora’s was back in sight.

  Amber walked unsteady in the arms of the jock Xlina had seen in her dreams before. Rest assured that there was no monster waiting to crunch on their brains, she smiled as her intoxicated neighbor stumbled about, leaning heavily on the jock in the football jacket. Why did this still feel so wrong?

  “You saved that girl tonight,” Oxivius said softly from beside her.

  “I put her in danger in the first place,” Xlina quipped, still unsure what to make of the death eater standing next to her.

  “Yet still she careens like a runaway rail car launching herself at new dangers,” he rebutted, pointing to the jock with the tip of his cane.

  “He’s her type,” Xlina shrugged.

  “And that’s where your morality ends?” he asked with that damn arched eyebrow of his that seemed to scream that she was being foolish and missing the obvious. She swore to herself she was going to shave it off in his sleep, assuming that cannibal necromancers slept.

  “Yeah, she’s a big girl,” Xlina continued, nodding more to reassure herself than Oxivius.

  “Indeed,” Oxivius remarked, pointing again with his cane. “A big girl who can barely stand, being half carried away in the night by some strange guy she probably just met. I’m sure you’re right; there’s nothing more for you to do tonight.”

  “Damn,” she cursed, taking off in a sprint down the street to catch up to Amber and her new beau. “Now I’m being lectured on morality by a bloody cannibal.”

  A few long strides put her in front of Pandora’s, and another few put her in the alleyway, closing in on the couple as Amber’s giggles rang out in the night, bouncing off the walls.

  “Hey there,” Xlina called, drawing the jock’s attention. He was nowhere near as wasted as Amber judging by how quickly he turned his head to focus on her. His movements, guiding Amber down the alley and pivoting to meet Xlina, lacked the clumsy, sloth-like nature of someone with a good buzz.

  “Hey,” he replied, looking at her warily. “You missed the last call at the gym?”

  “Funny,” Xlina said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She was really regretting her choice of apparel for the night. “I’ll take Amber from here; she’s my neighbor.”

  “We’re all set,” he answered. “Thanks anyway.”

  “I�
��m sure you are,” Xlina persisted, reaching for Amber’s hand. “But we sort of came together tonight. I’m her wingman and designated driver, so it would be all on me if she didn’t get home safely.

  “Xlina!” Amber cried in delight. “How was your guy friend? Over already?”

  “Great,” Xlina nodded, reaching in and supporting Amber under her free arm in a weird game of tug of war with the jock. “You certainly have had enough fun for tonight. Let’s get you home.”

  “But we’re going back to his place,” she slurred heavily. “He has a jacu... jaca... jablousie... a hot tub.”

  She giggled at the slurred words, and her body hung limp, depending on the jock and Xlina to keep her aloft.

  “See? We’re fine,” he said in a pandering voice. “She doesn’t need your help, and she doesn’t want it.”

  “She’s too blitzed to know the difference,” Xlina said, pulling Amber away. Amber’s arm swung free from the jock’s shoulder, and she wrapped it up around Xlina’s neck, bringing her face to face with Xlina. Her breath was heavy and labored as she giggled again. The smell of alcohol was heavy and overwhelming in her face.

  “Hey,” the jock called, seeing his date wrapped around Xlina. “You stinking, cock-blocking bitch. Mind your own damn business.”

  “Come on Amber,” Xlina said reassuringly. “Let’s get you home.”

  “Hey,” the jock called again, placing his hand on Xlina’s shoulder as she turned back toward Pandora’s, Amber half stumbling with her. She felt the hand. She didn’t care for it. With a snapping back kick, she smashed the heel of her athletic sneaker into the jock’s groin, causing a high-pitched squeal to escape his lips as he lurched over in a balled-up heap.

  “Now I’m a bitch,” she said dismissively. “Sleep it off, stud.”

  As she helped the ambling Amber to the main drag, Xlina welcomed the sight of Oxivius standing by an open cab door.

  “I Ubered,” he said with a proud smile. Xlina noted it was a cab instead of an Uber and tried not to let loose a chuckle.

  “Thanks,” Xlina replied with a chuckle escaping her lips as she helped Amber into the back seat.

  Oxivius bolted around the car and slipped into the back seat on the driver’s side. Amber’s head and torso flopped around like a fish out of water as Oxivius pushed her with two outstretched fingers into a semi-straight sitting position. The howls of an enraged man following Xlina out from the alley signaled it was time to go. Xlina slipped in next to Amber from the passenger’s side of the cab and rattled off the address to the driver, passing a sideways glance at Oxivius. He held up his left hand to display a small green stone on a pendant and what looked to be a chicken bone. At least she hoped it was a chicken bone.

  “Clear,” Oxivius said with a nod to the driver.

  “Xlina,” Amber said sloppily, reaching her hand and dragging it over Xlina’s face to see if she was still there. “I don’t feel good.”

  “I know,” Xlina said, patiently resting her hand on Amber’s forehead. “We are heading home.”

  A thought flashed into her mind as she looked apologetically across the sprawled Amber to Oxivius, who was sitting contently and looking out the driver’s side window as if he were a puppy out on a joy ride. The uneasy feeling of a cannibal necromancer knowing where she lived seeped into her thoughts, fueling her worry once more. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of this Oxivius character. She has sensed raw evil, the shadow of death as he slew the cephalopod. Despite such evil, everything he had done otherwise showed him to be a perfect gentleman. It was his concern for her neighbor that had sprung her into action. It was his methodical line of thinking that had allowed her to turn the tables on the squid monster. He was like a Sherlock Holmes, a twisted, dark, evil Sherlock Holmes combined with Hannibal Lector.

  The ride was short, other than the one stop made so Amber could vomit out Xlina’s window. The sad part was that it wasn’t the worst thing she had seen all night. The cab pulled to the curb before the courthouse, and Oxivius reached into his vest to produce crisp bills, paying the driver handsomely and refusing any change. Xlina struggled to get Amber out of the cab and back to a standing position as Oxivius once again came around the back of the cab and whistled softly as the taillights pulled away.

  “I sure need to do that more often,” he mused, watching the car speed away.

  “Little help,” Xlina pleaded, struggling to keep Amber up. “I can’t believe she drank so much.”

  “Oh, it’s not the booze,” Oxivius replied, taking Amber’s hand and licking the back of it like a child sampling the frosting on a cake. “It’s the drugs.”

  “What?” Xlina replied, yanking Amber’s hand from the mouth of the cannibal.

  “Drugs. I can taste them on her skin.” He shrugged. “I’d be three sheets to the wind too if I had that pharmacist’s cocktail in me. I would guess some type of aphrodisiac, as well as something to make her loopy. Home brew concoction. Isn’t that right, Amber? You would agree to anything, wouldn’t you? Sell your soul to a devil?”

  “That’s not funny,” Xlina said, batting Oxivius away with a free hand. “Why would you joke about such a thing.”

  “Please. No demon could enter a pact with a human this drugged,” he chuckled dismissively. “They have rules they follow as well... and standards.”

  “Standards higher than those of horny frat boy, it appears,” Xlina said in surprise.

  “Your perception of humans versus Otherworlders is skewed,” Oxivius replied, as if calling the sky blue. “A demon or fae is utterly incapable of entering into a binding pact unless the other party coherently agrees. Trickery is fair play, confusion is also good, bribery is fine, but even demons won’t drug you to take advantage of you. Yet these humans and their superior morality is the measuring stick you use to judge me.”

  “I’m not judging you,” Xlina replied, struggling to get Amber through the door. She was becoming more and more like dead weight, unresponsive and listless.

  “Yes,” Oxivius replied, grabbing the door and holding it open. “You’re calling me evil after backing you up certainly wasn’t judgmental, love.”

  “Fine,” Xlina replied in defeat. “When you went all shadowy back there, it freaked me out, and I judged you. I’m still judging you.”

  “I know,” Oxivius replied, eyeing the stairs as Xlina approached. “Why not let me carry the patient, and that way your hands will be free to pummel the next monster you see?”

  “Fine,” Xlina relented, passing the sagging Amber off into Oxivius’ arms. He lifted her like a baby, cradling her gently while still grasping his cane. “No touchy-feely, mister. I’m watching you.”

  “You really do have trust issues, love,” Oxivius replied with a grunt as he ascended the stairs.

  “We can drop her off at her place,” Xlina motioned to a door as they cleared the stairs to the landing on the second floor.

  “If you think that’s best,” Oxivius replied. “But perhaps your place is better. You can keep half an eye on her and make sure she pulls though no worse for wear. Or are you afraid the nasty death eater will know which door is yours?”

  “The last one on the end,” she replied spitefully, leading the way, drawing her key, and unlocking her door. She reached in, feeling the wall for the switch and bringing the lights on.

  “Charming,” Oxivius said with a grin, weaving through the door carefully to avoid knocking the listless Amber’s head on the jamb. “It’s small but cozy.”

  “You’re not staying,” Xlina remarked flatly.

  “Of course, love,” Oxivius replied, making his way to the couch in the open studio apartment, setting Amber down gently, and propping her head up on a throw pillow. “Don’t forget the bucket.”

  “What now?” Xlina replied, retrieving a bottle of water from the fridge in her kitchenette.

  “For the vomit,” Oxivius said, coming up to his full height and adjusting his vest once more, checking to ensure he was presentable. “She is g
oing to need to again when she comes to, and I don’t envy the headache she’ll have.”

  “Thanks,” Xlina replied with a nod. “I mean for helping and everything. I’d offer you something to eat, but I’m plumb out of people.”

  Oxivius smiled at her attempt at humor. His eyes lingered on her for a second as she leaned against her kitchen counter drinking a bottle of water. A bluish stain had started bleeding through the pocket of her hoody where the heart and the ink sac lay dripping.

  “You’re welcome,” he said at last. Tapping the end of his cane on the floor twice, he snapped it up in the air before him and made for the door. “I’ll leave you now, Xlina. Our alpha wolf hunter satiated.”

  “Ox,” she interrupted as he reached for the door. “I will tell Valeria you performed adequately.”

  “Indeed,” he said with a half-grin and a raise of his brow. “Thank you.”

  The door closed behind him, and she felt the air rush from her lungs. He was gone, and she was left alone with her thoughts and a drugged Amber passed out on her sofa that doubled as her pullout bed. She sat at her kitchen table, water bottle rolling in hand as she tried to process everything.

  “What was I thinking?” she blurted to the unconscious Amber. “I’ll tell her you performed adequately.”

  With a shake of her head, she slammed her closed fist on the table in frustration. What was she feeling, what was she thinking? Oxivius had been solely and without a doubt the scariest thing she had ever seen. He had reached into the ether and pulled his magic from the darkness of death and decay. He could have killed her with barely an effort. What did she care about how she ended the night? She wasn’t going to put herself in a position to see or feel that kind of magic ever again. Was she?

  Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Amber moaning, followed by her lurching forward from the couch and heaving the contents of her stomach onto the floor. Her head hung off the side of the couch, and her platinum blond hair fell loosely to the floor, mopping the vomit up with the ends. Xlina winced as she recalled his warning about the bucket, and she rose, stripping off her hoodie and discarding it on the table before digging under her sink for a bucket and sponge.